The Iranian History Era :

Zand Dynasty (1750 - 1794) AD

After two years of war with Ottomans that extensively took place in Caucasia, the Iranian army headed by Hamzeh Mirza Safavi, defeated the Ottomans in Karabagh, and Darband. Ottomans had adopted an expansionist policy during this period and they frequently staged wars in the neighborhood for no reas... Read Full Article:

In order to serve the commerce of the Zand realm, with its center of gravity in Fars, in 1763 Karim Khan authorized the East India Company to establish a trading post in Bushehr, the Persian Gulf port with limited access. The Zand ruler who used to call himself Vakil (Representative) instead of Shah... Read Full Article:

Karimkhan Zand accepts five envoys delivering Russian Tsar's message with the news that Russian naval forces had just defeated the Ottomans. The envoys were offering an alliance with Iran against Ottomans. However, to their surprise Karimkhan frowned and replied that other nations' defeat would not ... Read Full Article:

Karim Khan Zand is known to be the best ruler in Iran since the invasion of Arabs. He was a high ranking officer in Nader Shah's army. After the assassination of Nader Shah, he supported whoever he thought of as a real heir to the throne but he never proclaimed king and only took the title "the advo... Read Full Article:

Karimkhan's death actually triggered the downfall of the Zand dynasty as a strange fight for power began. Karim Khan Zand succeeded in taking back most of Iran under his realm but he never called himself king and preferred to be known as the representative of ordinary people. Shortly after Karimkhan... Read Full Article:

Following Zaki Khan's sudden death, on June 19, 1779 Abolfath Khan became the sole ruler of Persia. He was a son of Karimkhan and there seemed to be no dispute on his legitimacy. Zaki Khan was a very influential person and his death created a power vacuum which many were waiting for. In this power ... Read Full Article:

Sadegh Khan was the brother of Karim Khan but he did not have any of his brother's qualities. He staged a conspiracy with Ali Morad Khan who was appointed as the head of the Persian army and raided Shiraz and slew Abolfath Khan on Aug, 22, 1779. Thus, he became the fifth Shah of the Zand dynasty. Un... Read Full Article:

After the death of Karim Khan Zand, Iran entered a turmoil because of rivalries for the throne. The two major powers were the Zand and Qajar tribal leaders. Ali Morad Khan was given the power over the Persian army by his uncle to destroy the Qajar tribe leaded by Agha Mohammad Khan who had declared ... Read Full Article:

Jafar Khan Zand was a military man. After his father, Sadegh Khan was overthrown by Ali Morad Khan, he had to fight for four years before defeating Ali Morad Khan and ascending the throne. During his reign, he had to defeat tribal leaders, specially the Qajar tribe leaded by Agha Mohammad Khan sever... Read Full Article:

Right after the murder of Jafar Khan on Jan, 23, 1789, Sayed Morad Khan ascended the Zand throne as the 8th king of the Zand Dynasty. Morad was a nephew of Karimkhan and the son of Khoda Morad Khan. It was a time when there were many proclaiming Shah in every corner of Iran. Sayed Morad Khan had bee... Read Full Article:

Lotfali Khan, Jafar Khan's son ascends the throne on May, 10, 1789 after defeating Seyyed Morad Khan. Thus he became the last king of the Zand dynasty. The young Lotfali Khan was not capable of fighting against Agha Mohammad Khan's army. After he was betrayed in Shiraz, he took refuge in Bushehr. He... Read Full Article:

After Haji Ebrahim defected to Qajars, in exchange of becoming the Fars province ruler, Lotfali Khan advanced to the vicinity of Shiraz and encircled the city, taking control of all districts around Shiraz. He hoped that this action will starve the city into submission. Agha Mohammad Khan first sent... Read Full Article:

After defeating Lotfali Khan's forces near Perspolis, Agha Mohammad Khan entered Shiraz in July, 1792. During one month of stay in the city, he took the rest of the Zand family captive and exhumed the body of Karim Khan Zand to be sent to Tehran. Next spring, he returned to Shiraz again to assert hi... Read Full Article:

After a long siege, Kerman was captured by Agha Mohammad Khan's army. The city had given refugee to Fathali Khan, the last Zand ruler and resisted heroically despite famine resulting from the siege that started in December. Fathali Khan finally escaped to nearby Bam in hopes of minimizing civilian c... Read Full Article: